The XanMan Ate the Cheese
by ginar369
Summary: This was actually a challenge on another site but I wanted to post it here. During dreams in Restless what would have happened if someone ate the cheese. So remove a word and viola! The cheese man says these will not protect you, well what if they would?


_Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended._

_This was a challenge on another site but I am posting here instead. The challenge was to have someone eat the cheese that the Cheese Man was always offering during the Slayer dreams. All the dreams are the same as the episode Restless until Xander is in his room in the basement of his parents home. Instead of the Cheese Man saying "These will not protect you" He says "These will protect you." Xander not paying attention eats the cheese and well read to find out what happens next!  
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><p><span>The Xan-Man Ate the Cheese<span>

The gang went to Buffy's house after defeating Adam. As they settled in to watch movies everyone fell into a fitful sleep, disturbing dreams playing in their minds. At one point in Xander's dreams he is in his room in his parent's basement, as he walks up the stairs the door at the top starts rattling as someone pounds on it. Turning he goes back down to see a bald man holding a platter of cheese. "These…. These will protect you." The man says with a flourish.

Xander scared and annoyed absentmindedly grabs a few slices of cheese and stuffs them in his mouth. Suddenly everyone wakes from the dreams they were having except Xander. They try to wake him but nothing works.

"What the holy heck!" Xander exclaims to the cheese man a strange jolt running through him. "What's going on?"

"I told you the cheese would protect you. You shall see, sit watch and learn." He directs Xander into one of the chairs in the basement.

Images flash before Xander's eyes. Horrible things, his friends getting hurt, Joyce dying, Spike fighting by their side. Buffy sacrificing herself for the world, her return from the grave orchestrated by Willow. Xander wants it to stop but the images keep coming, relentlessly forcing him to see the behavior of the group. How their actions affect one another. Then he sees an image of Buffy telling them she had been in heaven. Tears start coming from Xander's eyes, hoping this is just part of the nightmare. "This is your future." The cheese man tells him, dashing his hope that it is all a mistake.

"No we have to be able to change it." Xander begs.

"Only if you are willing to see." Comes the cryptic reply.

Anya in a wedding dress crying in front of a group of people as he walks away from her. More images of Willow and her decent into black magic, Tara's death and in her grief Willow attempting to end the world. Then a terrifying vision of the First Evil trying to kill them all and the image that stuns him the most. Spike dying to save the world and Buffy telling him she loves him, and Spike not believing her. Anya's body sliced in half in the rubble of the high school. The images end with a view of Sunnydale collapsed into a crater.

"What, what do I need to do? What do I need to see? How can I change it? Please there must be a way?"

"Are you willing? Will you see?"

"Yes! I'll do anything." Xander replies

"Good, when you wake you will be able to remember all of this. Use this knowledge for the right reasons. Use it well." The voice of the cheese man fades and Xander wakes up.

"Guys you are never going to believe what happened to me!" Xander tells his concerned friends. Jumping up he runs over to the desk in the living room and grabs a pencil and paper and starts writing furiously wanting to get it all down. Not sure if he will keep the images or if they will fade, but it's too important to take that chance. The others try to get him to talk, but he waves them away not stopping until he gets it all down on paper, every last image.


End file.
